Jan Hajek battles past Jurgen Zopp into the semi-finals – SkiStar Swedish Open 2012
World number 102, Jan Hajek of Czech Republic, kept his unbelievable run of form intact, as he defeated Estonia’s 84th ranked player, Jurgen Zopp, in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the SkiStar Swedish
Open in Bastad, Sweden on Friday.
Hajek had not played even a single Tour-level match in this season before this tournament. As four ATP World Tour 250 events are being held in this week and many top players are taking rest after Wimbledon, the Czech player received
a direct entry in this event.
The 28-year-old beat the world number 113, Federico Delbonis of Argentina, in the opener. After that, Hajek made one of the biggest upsets of his career, as he stunned Finland’s fourth seeded player, Jarkko Nieminen, in straight
sets 6-1, 7-6(2) in the second round.
Hajek’s previous best performance at any WTA event was the one when he reached the final round of the qualifying draw at the French Open, losing to the then world number 212, Mischa Zverev, in straight sets 2-6, 4-6.
Coming back to the latest match, Hajek struck in the very first game and held his subsequent serve to gain a 2-0 lead. However, Zopp hit back immediately to level the score at 2-2. The Czech player allowed his Estonian opponent
to claim only one game afterwards, winning it 6-3.
Hajek and Zopp made a steady start in the second set, as they did not drop their serve in the opening six games to take the score to 3-3. The Estonian claimed breakthrough in the seventh and made the most of it to triumph 6-4.
Just like the opener, Hajek grabbed first two games to attain a 2-0 advantage in the third set but the Czech squandered it, levelling the proceedings at 2-2. However, the right-hander hit a blow to the Estonian in the eighth and
capitalised on it to win 6-3.
Hajek fired a total of five aces and 67 percent of the first deliveries, clinching 38 of the 55 points in the match.
The Czech will meet either Nicolas Almagro or Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the semis.
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